Legal Drama for Axed Housewives Star

The big buzz surrounding Desperate Housewives last November sweeps wasn't about anything happening on screen, but about the abrupt dismissal of Page Kennedy from the role of Caleb, the Applewhite family's mysterious cellar-dweller. Despite what's been reported, rumored and simply fabricated, however, Kennedy is back on ABC, facing more "legal drama" as a guest star on Boston Legal (tonight at 10 pm/ET). Have the actor and the network kissed and made up?

TVGuide.com: Here you are appearing on another ABC series, so some sort of peace has been made, right? Page Kennedy: Right. Like I have said before, all of this stuff that was in the tabloids, that's what it was [rumors from] the tabloids. ABC decided that they wanted to recast my part, but then all of this other stuff got put out there on top of it.

TVGuide.com: Well, I have to think that any "prurient" spin on what happened only came from the fact that there was so much mystery concerning the circumstances. It was never officially specified what happened.Kennedy: Exactly, and that leaves people to draw their own conclusions about what occurred.

TVGuide.com: So it's not true that you were caught in the ABC studio basement playing naked Candyland with Mrs. McCluskey?Kennedy: [Laughs] Uh, no. Not at all.

TVGuide.com: Is it part of the terms of your dismissal that you're not at liberty to spell out what happened?Kennedy: The details are that they had their reasons for wanting to recast and that's what they did. It had nothing to do with any of the stuff you have heard, at all.

TVGuide.com: OK. For what it's worth, the guy they replaced you with [Nashawn Kearse] 1) looks nothing like you and is perhaps half your size, and 2) has only been on for like 18 seconds since you left.Kennedy: You never know what's going to happen. I understand they wanted to go in a different direction. I don't know what that means, but maybe it was their intention to make sure that he looks nothing like me? All I can do is speculate. It's not like they gave me any specific information on what prompted [the recast]. But I do see a change in the character. It looks like he is more creepy now as opposed to how I was trying to play him.

TVGuide.com: You played him as this "gentle giant."Kennedy: Exactly, exactly. And I do see a difference now.

TVGuide.com: Do you keep in touch with anyone from Housewives? Were you there long enough to form a connection with anyone?Kennedy: I was there for almost three months, and Mehcad Brooks and I were cool. We are in contact every now and then.

TVGuide.com: I was one of the 11 people who saw In the Mix in a theater. Who did you play in that again?Kennedy: [Laughs] You got me thinking now. I played Twizzie, one of Usher's friends.

TVGuide.com: Now tell me about your role on Boston Legal.Kennedy: This episode has to do with race, and I play a character named Dennis Pryor, who has been arrested for trespassing in a white neighborhood. But he was just there to look at the architecture, to watch, see, dream and hope. I'm represented by Kerry Washington (Chelina) and James Spader (Alan).

TVGuide.com: You want James Spader on your side, that's for sure.Kennedy: You definitely want James Spader on your side. He's my favorite television actor, and on top of that he's a beautiful human being. A wonderful guy.

TVGuide.com: Of course, it would have been funnier if you were playing an actor mysteriously fired from his role on a hit TV series.Kennedy: [Laughs] That would have been ironic, wouldn't it?

TVGuide.com: Let's segue from rap sheets to... rap music. You have an album in the works?Kennedy: I'm currently working on a mix tape that will be called "Life After Wisteria Lane." It's coming along pretty good.

TVGuide.com: As you're writing lyrics, remember that "hysteria" rhymes with Wisteria.Kennedy: I might have to throw that in there and give you a credit!

TVGuide.com: Let me pick your brain on this heavy topic: On a recent CSI, you played a rap artist caught up in violence, which is a very real facet of that business. The most recent case in point: when Proof was shot and killed outside a Detroit club. Tell me, is anyone in rap trying to pull in the reins on the gunplay? Or do people simply accept it for what it is?Kennedy: I'm sure they understand it, but I think you've got to realize that a lot of people in the rap industry come from an environment of aggressive behavior and attitude. So even though they have "made it out" of [where they came from], they still have this mentality [which only is exacerbated] because they have more money and more people behind them and they feel they can get away with more. It's a tough thing, man. I myself, I'm a rapper from the streets of Detroit, but I was able to go to college and open myself up to a wider range of the world. My appreciation of life is different, I think.